Business leaders split over support for Birmingham Metro tram system

Business leaders in Birmingham are divided over support for the Snow Hill-Five Ways Midland Metro tram extension and are beginning to openly question whether the business case for the £180 million project stands up.

Business leaders in Birmingham are divided over support for the Snow Hill-Five Ways Midland Metro tram extension and are beginning to openly question whether the business case for the £180 million project stands up.

Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jerry Blackett said he did not believe an adequate bid for Government funding had yet been made by the city council and passenger transport authority Centro.

He added firms would not support the Metro with the same enthusiasm given to the successful campaign for the refurbishment of New Street Station until they could be convinced that project meets Department for Transport rules for cost-benefit return on public sector projects.

But his cautious approach was flatly contradicted by Glyn Pitchford, the business sector representative on the West Midlands City Region Board.

Mr Pitchford insisted: “Businesses want the Metro. We need the Metro from Snow Hill to Five Ways and hopefully up the Hagley Road to Quinton.”

Civil servants at the DfT have spent two years examining the Metro project and are understood to be concerned about a number of aspects.

A major point at issue, according to Mr Blackett, is the question of whether Birmingham “jumped too quickly” and failed to consider investing in alternative methods of transport before submitting the Metro application.

Mr Blackett, who also chairs the West Midlands Business Transport Group, said: “The business community is split. There are those who say Birmingham deserves an iconic, modern symbol, but there are others who are worried about value for money.

“Many people think that transport is so limited that if you have £180 million to spend it might be better to upgrade your roads or buy better buses.

“If we get a very strong cost-benefit ratio that would speak volumes and it would be easy to back the Metro extension, but we haven’t yet seen the business case fully proven.”

He was speaking days after city council leader Mike Whitby pointedly refused to give the Metro his personal backing and declined to say whether he would build the extension to Five Ways even if the money became available.

The council is considering other options, including running the Metro from Snow Hill to New Street as a first phase, and then on to Birmingham Airport. The possibility of investing in fast rapid-transit buses is also being investigated.

Mr Pitchford urged Coun Whitby to “stop talking about different options” and to concentrate on developing an integrated transport policy.

He added: “I would urge the council leader to make his mind up about what Birmingham needs, not just for that one Metro route but for the whole transport plan.”